In her book, Down Girl, Manne proposes to uncover the
“logic” of misogyny, bringing clarity to a notion that she
describes as both “loaded” and simultaneously “politically
marginal.” Manne is aware that full insight into the “logic”
of misogyny will require not just a “what” but a “why.”
Though Manne finds herself largely devoted to the former
task, the latter is in the not-too-distant periphery.
Manne proposes to understand misogyny, as a general
framework, in terms of what it does to women. Misogyny,
she writes, is a system that polices and enforces the
patriarchal social order (33). That’s the “what.” As for the
“why,” Manne suggests that misogyny is what women
experience because they fail to live up to the moral
standards set out for women by that social order.
I find Manne’s analysis insightful, interesting, and well
argued. And yet, I find her account incomplete. While I
remain fully convinced by her analysis of what misogyny
is, I am less persuaded by her analysis of why misogyny
is. For a full analysis of the “logic” of misogyny, one needs
to understand how the patriarchy manifests in men an
interest in participating in its enforcement. Or so I hope
to motivate here. I aim to draw a line from the patriarchy
to toxic masculinity to misogyny so that we have a clearer
picture as to why men are invested in this system. I thus
hope to offer here an analysis that is underdeveloped in
Manne’s book, but is equally worthy of attention if we want
fully to understand the complex machinations underlying
misogyny.